Accumulation and distribution of nutrients, radionuclides and metals by roots, stems and leaves of plants

In the process of growth and development, plants not only absorb essential nutritional elements, but also absorb radioactive and non-essential elements from the environment, and their distribution varies in different parts of the plant. In this study, neutron activation analysis and gamma spectrometry were performed on stems, roots, and leaves of vegetables. The results indicate that the accumulation of ra-dionuclides and multi-elements depends on the plant type and plant parts. Activity concentrations of 226Ra and 232Th in plants were accumulated in the following order: Roots > Stems > Leaves. The highest concentrations of 40K and 210Pb were observed in the stems and leaves of plants, respectively. Essential nutrient requirements of plants are in the following order: K > Ca > Mg > Fe > Zn > Mn. Among the non-essential metals, the concentration of Na in the vegetable sample was much greater than those of the other elements. The K/Na ratio in the plant depends on the type of plant and the translocation within the plant.& COPY; 2023 Korean Nuclear Society, Published by Elsevier Korea LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study conducted neutron activation analysis and gamma spectrometry on the stems, roots, and leaves of vegetables. The results showed that the accumulation of radionuclides and multi-elements in plants depended on the plant type and parts. The activity concentrations of 226Ra and 232Th followed the order: Roots > Stems > Leaves. The highest concentrations of 40K and 210Pb were found in the stems and leaves, respectively. The essential nutrient requirements of plants were ranked as: K > Ca > Mg > Fe > Zn > Mn. Among the non-essential metals, the concentration of Na in vegetable samples was much higher than others. The K/Na ratio in plants varied depending on the plant type and translocation within the plant.